Latest / Aspergers & Autism Podcast [The Aspie World] AuDHD / Autism Sensory Overload: (What You Need To Know)
Transcript
- 0:03Hey guys, in this podcast. I'm talking about autism sensory
- 0:06overload is taken from video. I made on overloads and talking
- 0:10about how actually feels like to have an Autism sensory overload.
- 0:14And I thought it'd be really cool to actually put down into
- 0:17some kind of creative contact. So I hope you enjoyed this
- 0:20podcast. Also guys, if you're new and
- 0:22you're listening to this podcast, I also have Instagram
- 0:24and Twitter. So hit me up at the aspie world
- 0:27on Instagram and Twitter and then yeah tweet me DM me is, you
- 0:31know tag me and stuff. I want to That conversation with
- 0:34you guys. I actually reply to everybody.
- 0:35So yeah really pumped to start more community.
- 0:38So enjoy this podcast piece. Okay guys, so I want to go over
- 0:44a little bit about how autism and SPD which is sensory
- 0:48processing disorder kind of overlap or come together if you
- 0:50will so sensory processing disorder or SPD is where
- 0:53somebody is over lie or unruly sensitive to certain stimuli
- 0:59from sensory input. But for now, I'm just taking to
- 1:01how this actually can come up with the exist with autism.
- 1:05So the sensory input is obviously connected to your your
- 1:10brain in a way where you communicate with the sensors the
- 1:13outside and you decode that and then that happens to be stored
- 1:16in a certain way. So you understand exactly what's
- 1:17going on. Unfortunately with people with
- 1:20an Autism Spectrum condition. Sometimes they have a comorbid
- 1:25condition or a cold current condition, which is SPD with an
- 1:28Autism Spectrum Condition. It's all down to how the brain
- 1:30communicates so autism is a communicative.
- 1:33And socially communicative issue.
- 1:36That's where it stems from SPD is no exception sensory input is
- 1:40also down to communication how your brain communicates the
- 1:42outside world. So this is exactly how this cool
- 1:45occurs. So what is the sensory overload?
- 1:48So I want to talk a bit about a sensory overload because the
- 1:51sensory overload is essentially where somebody an autistic
- 1:54person for instance is going to the supermarket.
- 1:59So an autistic person may walk into the supermarket and the
- 2:02light on the ceiling are so bright that that person can
- 2:07communicate that to their that brain in the format that I knew
- 2:11typical person would and so the autistic person finds that very
- 2:14overwhelming now, that's one thing.
- 2:16I mean that alone could cause some sort of distress or could
- 2:19cause some sort of upset now in terms of an Autism sensory
- 2:26overload. This is how I would predict it
- 2:29to happen from my point of view cause I've had a certain issues
- 2:32like this where I've had over. It's in certain places.
- 2:34So you go into the store and autistic person walks into the
- 2:36store. I'll tell use me.
- 2:37For instance we go to the store. Then there's lights on the
- 2:40ceiling that I really bright lift fluorescent lights and
- 2:42they're not no good and they're very irritating but they're the
- 2:45kind of like, it's almost like a buzzing right?
- 2:46It's a buzzing noise in and around your head.
- 2:49Then you walk past like the entertainment section and
- 2:52there's loads of like music just blasting out kind of like, you
- 2:55know, rock and roll Grunge music or whatever and that's really
- 2:58really loud or it's dance music is really loud.
- 3:00And so that's another buzzing noise in your head.
- 3:01So right now you got these two Buzzing noises going on and then
- 3:04you walk a little down the the store a little bit further and
- 3:08then all of a sudden you hit with the smell from the deli
- 3:10counter, which is a little things like onions and spices
- 3:12and galaxies and stuff like that which are really overstimulating
- 3:15to your senses. Now, you got three things
- 3:17buzzing going on and you're close to Breaking Point right
- 3:20now. And then the last thing is that
- 3:22you turn the corner and there happens to be like a busload of
- 3:25tourists that just pulled up and they're everywhere and they're
- 3:27noise in the Rowdy in the kitchen and everywhere and you
- 3:30just pull just it just hit you over the head.
- 3:33Just too much going on this too many sensory stimuli feeding
- 3:38into your brain that you cannot categorize the way that new
- 3:41typical people can and this is not good and actually in actual
- 3:45fact this happens so much all the time.
- 3:48It happens to me almost every time we go shopping.
- 3:51It happens to get to maybe one or two things that are really
- 3:55really got it going insane and like, oh my goodness as like to
- 3:58buzzing noises going on on really busy days in the summer
- 4:02it becomes so overwhelming that I just kind of want to avoid the
- 4:05stores. We actually got certain time so
- 4:07that it's a bit quieter now in the UK specifically certain
- 4:11stores have autism our way like Saturday morning from nine until
- 4:1410:00 in the morning. There is a they like turn the
- 4:17music down and they make it like a bit more autism friendly,
- 4:20which is okay, but I really believe that we need to push
- 4:22forward in the future to make sure that it's not just like one
- 4:26hour of a week that's going to be autism friendly.
- 4:29I think we need to make it like autism friendly across the
- 4:31board. So that is basically See how a
- 4:34you know sensory overload occurs and what essentially overload is
- 4:37but there could be a number of things.
- 4:38It's not just those senses. It could be sensitive to touch
- 4:41or heat or being in a certain place.
- 4:45So there's loads of different stimuli and the stimuli is very
- 4:48individual to the person. Okay.
- 4:50It's going to be one of the senses but at the end of the
- 4:52day, it's still the combination that's going to cause an
- 4:55overload will be individual to that person's need.
- 4:58So, how can you help a potential sensory overload?
- 5:02So So I'm always a big advocate for Preparation.
- 5:06So this is my thing. Now look if you're if you're an
- 5:10autistic person or you know, somebody who is autistic.
- 5:13Then you are going to know you'll get come to get to know
- 5:17them what their triggers are or what your triggers are.
- 5:18Like for me life sounds and smells are like the worst ones.
- 5:22So too much noise, like I can't focus if there's any other noise
- 5:26going on it needs to be completely silent me to do
- 5:28certain things. Like if I'm putting a bookshelf
- 5:30together then only complete silence.
- 5:33I know it in my boxer shorts because I get really hot and
- 5:36just irritated because I'm trying to do something on my
- 5:39focus is going on this one thing so I would so I would recommend
- 5:44that you study what your triggers are and how those
- 5:47triggers impact your life and then see if there are ways that
- 5:50you can help overcome those in certain situations and maybe
- 5:54height and so for me when I'm going to the store, I'm usually
- 5:57wearing sunglasses because the sunglasses help just break down
- 5:59that light a little bit. I mean, it doesn't get rid of it
- 6:01completely, but it definitely Helps break it down.
- 6:04So it's not so overwhelming another tip.
- 6:06Is that if I'm going to the store on my own and they'll make
- 6:08my government isn't with me. I actually put headphones in and
- 6:12I just recently bought the Apple earpods and they're really cool
- 6:16because like they're really small and discreet.
- 6:17Nobody can really see them. I do actually have noise
- 6:19cancellation headphones which are linked in the description
- 6:21below. So if you're looking for very
- 6:23good noise canceling headphones, like digital noise canceling
- 6:26headphones. The link is in description below
- 6:28the made by Bose. They're amazing and I highly
- 6:30recommend them so it I would wear Phones wear sunglasses and
- 6:34I would avoid the aisle that has all the deli kind of smells on
- 6:39it like the plague. I just like the other side of
- 6:41the store for me only please because this is too much now
- 6:45that is one way of dealing with it.
- 6:46You can also prep so that if you know that somebody's going to go
- 6:51overwhelmed by too much going on in the count Focus.
- 6:53So say you go to a store or you go out to like a day out and
- 6:57there's loads of things going on and they're looking everywhere
- 6:59attention is going everywhere and it's causing them to become
- 7:01really overwhelmed. I Suggest taking something like,
- 7:04you know a Nintendo DS with them or like an iPad or an iPhone or
- 7:07some kind of smart device that you can play their favorite game
- 7:10a pond or something. That'll keep them focused
- 7:12because when they're focused on that one thing their attention
- 7:14is on that one things than attention isn't going everywhere
- 7:16and I'm not going to go over stimulated and overloaded
- 7:18because it's all about prepping. It's all about prepping for that
- 7:21situation and look at the third and biggest thing in this idea
- 7:25of how do you overcome or how do you potentially avoid situations
- 7:29of overload? Let us put it this way.
- 7:31I know that if I went A Comic-Con like a really big on
- 7:35like look like the San Diego Comic-Con or like London Comic
- 7:37Con and I was just plunked in the middle of all those people
- 7:40I'd have an instant oval too many people too much noise too
- 7:42much much too many things going on, right so I just don't go I
- 7:45just don't go to those things. I just avoid the things that I
- 7:47know are going to cause me stress because if I avoid them
- 7:52then I've avoided the potential of having an O Lord.
- 7:55I mean that's just basic principles of just avoiding
- 7:57something that you know may be distressing.
- 7:59So what do you do if you you know with somebody during an
- 8:04awesome sensory overload or if you're a person who is taking
- 8:08care of somebody who has not some sensory overload.
- 8:10So this is what I would advise I would advise that you need to
- 8:13give the person space that you have to try and dampen the
- 8:18senses as much as possible. I get rid of that music, you
- 8:20know move them to a quieter space maybe like turn the lights
- 8:24off and try and shade the light from them like try and get them
- 8:27outside. It's also away from the area
- 8:29that's causing this complete at a sensory.
- 8:32Overload. When they've come down then you
- 8:34can kind of talk to them and make sure they're okay and stuff
- 8:38like that. So when it actually happens when
- 8:40you when it's that eminent moment where it's like, oh my
- 8:41goodness. This person is having a really
- 8:43difficult time right now on that day essentially overloading and
- 8:45it's getting close to a meltdown because this could be really big
- 8:49and it can be really big catastrophe if it gets to a
- 8:51meltdown level need to kind of get rid of the sensory stimuli
- 8:54at happening. So moving away from noise move
- 8:55away from smiles and Rhythm sounds get them outside, you
- 8:58know away from that light get get it just really nice relaxed
- 9:02more calm. And more just camera really more
- 9:06elastic. The situation needs to be more
- 9:08camera last now is is what you should do if you're trying to
- 9:12deal with someone who's having an awesome sensory overload now
- 9:15what to do afterwards, this is key as well.
- 9:18Once they've you know, calm down and you've got rid of all that
- 9:21kind of crazy sensory stimulates causing them to go, you know up
- 9:25and down and overload and stimulated then you can then say
- 9:29to them. Okay, right.
- 9:30We'll go somewhere where we know which is Cam so Maybe that you
- 9:33have a sensory room or you have sensory toys or fidget Spinners
- 9:37or look maybe you like gadgets and you're like going to Best
- 9:40Buy or PC World to look at the the gadgets and gizmos and
- 9:44computers and stuff in there. And that's cool because what you
- 9:46want to do is take that person away from something that was
- 9:49like the worst position for them to be in put them into the most
- 9:54comfortable position for them to be in.
- 9:55So if you know if they love playing rocket league on
- 9:57Minecraft a Pokemon or whatever then get them in front of that
- 10:00game as quickly as possible so that they can like recharge on
- 10:02the Things that they really enjoy, you know for me, I'd love
- 10:05like watching movies on UFOs and stuff like that and researching
- 10:10like algorithmic changes and things in Google.
- 10:12So I just sit down at a computer and start reading those things
- 10:14and I've loved it. And so that would come me write
- 10:17down and get me back to kind of like, you know a neutral level.
- 10:20So this is the the big one you have to make sure that you take
- 10:24them out of the negative situation into the positive
- 10:27situation and this will help overcome all those, you know,
- 10:30the sticky issues where it would stick for a while and they be
- 10:32upset for But again, you know, you can use sensory stimuli for
- 10:37autistic people in a positive way that our bunch of sensory
- 10:40toys that you can buy. There's actually a link in the
- 10:42description below actually what you can get some money.
- 10:44I think it's like 15 or 20% off sensory toys if you're
- 10:47interested in them, but I have a bunch of my like Slinkys I have
- 10:51like like there's a stick band kind of balls.
- 10:53I have fidget Spinners fidget cubes and all these things are
- 10:56cool one. My favorite ones is a clicks
- 10:58which is just super awesome. And these are great these
- 11:01sensory stimulating. That are going to encourage
- 11:05certain things through centuries you so you may have sensory
- 11:08rooms where you've had before you have sensory playoff sensory
- 11:12therapy where they'll be a room set up with certain things like
- 11:15bubble lights and like certain like foam textured walls and
- 11:20stuff like that. All this stuff is really cool
- 11:21because it's how the person the autistic person digest that
- 11:25information. It can be done in a really good
- 11:28positive way in a rather than being like a concert where the
- 11:30music's playing it's hot little to people over and it's stinks
- 11:33of like gross like alcohol or beer or whatever then they could
- 11:37be in a room where they have really cool like, you know,
- 11:40bubble lamps and lava lamps bubble machines the like foam
- 11:45bricks on the wall stuff that they can like actually touch and
- 11:48and really feel can with like fiber optic lamps and stuff like
- 11:50that. I love all that stuff and I
- 11:52actually have a lava lamp here in my room and I really enjoy
- 11:57just watching it because it's really coming really soothing
- 12:00and at the very least try and maybe All the fish tank with
- 12:04some lighting because fish is super centuries pleasing to
- 12:08watch fish just like moving about and the bubbles and the
- 12:10time can the lights in the water.
- 12:11It's super cool.